From the early 1940s to the late 1960s, Cecil Beaton photographed Elizabeth in her roles as princess, queen, and mother. He would help create the image of her as a calm and serene figurehead of the country, and in doing so helped stabilize a monarchy that was tottering in the aftermath of the abdication crisis. Yet at first glance this self-described “terrible homosexualist” hardly seemed like the right person for the job.
The flamboyant Beaton had made his name photographing the Bright Young Things of the 1920s, extravagant high-living socialites such as the Mitford sisters, the Sitwell siblings, and Evelyn Waugh. His success with them saw him travel to New York, where he became the pre-eminent fashion photographer for Vanity Fair and Vogue, shooting everyone from Pablo Picasso to Katharine Hepburn in a style that mixed the stark experimentalism of Man Ray with a luscious theatricality.
